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Description

Gravatt explains the subject of rotatory motion in a series of propositions by the use of prime and ultimate ratios. He commences with a simple problem, determining the law of the forces by which a particle of matter is deflected into any given course, and pursues the inquiry by a consideration of the effect of these forces as referred to a sphere, going on to the investigation of the character of the motion of any body enclosed within an imaginary sphere, such sphere itself being supposed to revolve upon two axes inclined at any angle to each other. Hence the author determines the position of some point of the circumscribing sphere momentarily at rest, or in other words, of the resultant axis, from which he insists that all centrifugal forces must really be calculated.

Annotations in pencil throughout. Includes five figures in the text and a separate page of geometrical figures. Preceded by a covering letter dated 6 March 1856.

Subject: Mathematics / Geometry

Received 12 March 1856. Communicated by J B [Joseph Bancroft] Reade.

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 8 of volume 8 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'Elementary considerations on the subject of rotatory motion'.

Reference number
AP/38/18
Earliest possible date
1856
Physical description
Ink and graphite pencil on paper
Page extent
35 pages
Format
Drawing
Manuscript

Creator name

William Gravatt

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Citation

William Gravatt, Unpublished paper, 'Elementary considerations on the subject of rotatory motion' by William Gravatt, 1856, AP/38/18, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_38_18/unpublished-paper-elementary-considerations-on-the-subject-of-rotatory-motion-by-william-gravatt, accessed on 11 December 2024

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  • Archived Papers

    Dates: 1768-1989

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

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